Virginia Code 33.2-208: Location of routes
A. The Board shall have the power and duty to locate and establish the routes to be followed by the highways comprising the systems of state highways between the points designated in the establishment of such systems, except that such routes shall not include highways or streets located within any local system of highways or streets, within the urban highway system, or those local highways in any county that has resumed full responsibility for all of the secondary state highway system within such county’s boundaries pursuant to § 33.2-342. Such routes to be located and established shall include corridors of statewide significance pursuant to § 33.2-353.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 33.2-208
- Board: means the Commonwealth Transportation Board. See Virginia Code 33.2-100
- Department: means the Department of Transportation. See Virginia Code 33.2-100
- Highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way or place open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 33.2-100
- in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Chapter 42. See Virginia Code 1-257
- Locality: has the meaning assigned to it in § 1-221. See Virginia Code 33.2-100
- State: includes District of Columbia;
(f) "Transit facilities" means all real and personal property located in the Zone, necessary or useful in rendering transit service between points within the Zone, by means of rail, bus, water or air and any other mode of travel, including, without limitation, tracks, rights-of-way, bridges, tunnels, subways, rolling stock for rail, motor vehicle, marine and air transportation, stations, terminals and ports, areas for parking and all equipment, fixtures, buildings and structures and services incidental to or required in connection with the performance of transit service;
(g) "Transit services" means the transportation of persons and their packages and baggage by means of transit facilities between points within the Zone including the transportation of newspapers, express and mail between such points, and charter service which originates within the Zone but does not include taxicab service or individual-ticket-sales sightseeing operations;
(h) "Transit Zone" or "Zone" means the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Zone created and described in Section 3 as well as any additional area that may be added pursuant to Section 83(a) of this Compact; and
(i) "WMATC" means Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission. See Virginia Code 33.2-3100
- Systems of state highways: has the meaning assigned to it in § 1-251. See Virginia Code 33.2-100
- Urban highway system: consists of those public highways, or portions thereof, not included in the systems of state highways, to which the Commonwealth Transportation Board directs payments pursuant to § 33. See Virginia Code 33.2-100
B. The Board shall not locate and establish any route pursuant to this section until the Department has (i) published in a newspaper that is published or has a general circulation in the locality in which the route is to be located and established a notice of its willingness to hold a public hearing on the matter, (ii) notified the governing body of the locality in which the route is to be located of its willingness to hold a public hearing on the matter, and (iii) held a public hearing if one has been requested.
If a public hearing is requested, written notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given not less than 30 days prior to the hearing to the governing body of the locality in which the route is to be located and established. Not less than 30 days prior to the hearing, a notice of the time and place of the hearing shall also be published by the Department at least once in a newspaper published or having a general circulation in the locality in which the route is to be located and established.
All public hearings on the location or possible location of a route shall be open forums that afford citizens opportunities to obtain route location information and other pertinent information on a proposed project and to submit their hearing comments in writing or to present them directly to a verbatim recorder. In addition, upon the written request of a member of the governing body of the locality in which the route is proposed to be located, or upon the written request of 25 citizens, these public hearings shall afford citizens an opportunity to present their comments to representatives of the Department directly, one speaker at a time, in a public forum following a traditional hearing format. A written request for a traditional hearing must be received within 14 days following the first published notice of the hearing or willingness to hold a hearing.
Following the public hearing, if one is held as provided in this section, the Department shall notify the governing body of the affected locality of the Board’s decision regarding the location and establishment of the route.
Code 1950, §§ 33-12, 33-17; 1956, c. 92; 1964, c. 265; 1970, c. 322, §§ 33.1-12, 33.1-18; 1974, c. 462; 1977, c. 150; 1978, c. 650; 1986, Sp. Sess., c. 13; 1988, cc. 844, 903; 1989, c. 727; 1992, cc. 44, 167; 1995, c. 94; 2000, c. 489; 2001, c. 349; 2003, cc. 281, 533, 560; 2004, c. 110; 2005, cc. 839, 919; 2006, cc. 197, 417, 833, 924; 2006, Sp. Sess. I, c. 8; 2007, c. 337; 2008, Sp. Sess. II, c. 5; 2009, cc. 670, 690; 2011, cc. 104, 164; 2012, cc. 729, 733; 2013, cc. 388, 569, 585, 646, 741; 2014, c. 805.